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THE TASHNAK TERRORIST ORGANIZATION
The “Armenian Revolutionary
Federation” or "Tashnak Organization" is also known
as the "Tashnak Party." In fact, after the communist
takeover of the Armenian Republic, the Tashnak organization
continued its existence as a party in exile, mainly in Lebanon,
Iran, France, Greece and the United States. This organization
has remained active up to the present day and has performed
a significant role in planning and promoting the new era of
Armenian terrorism, as well as forming teams and groups for
carrying out terrorist operations. A move was made, later
in its career, to have its name changed from the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation to the Armenian National Committee.
The intention behind this was to achieve greater effectiveness
in its propagandist activities by the removal of a name that
could offend Western sensibility.
The Structure
of the Organization
a. “Bureau”:
This is the highest organ of the organization and takes the
decisions that determine its administrative policies. In appearance
the bureau represents collective leadership. It consists of
eight members, one each from California, France and Iran and
five from Lebanon. The members elect a chairman. The bureau,
which was based in Lebanon until the outbreak of the Civil
War, was moved from there to the United States and then to
Greece and France. The regulations of the bureau and its decisions
are kept secret .It is known that a person named Hrair Marukian,
Persian by birth and domiciled in France, was its chairman
until 1985.
b. "The Central Committee":
It is the highest-level executive organ. It establishes the
link between the bureau and the local groups and organizations.
It is established in places where there is a sizeable Armenian
population. Lebanon and France have one central committee
each, whilst the United States has two, one on the eastern
and' the other one on western coasts. Under the pyramid shaped
structure there are local organizations and their organs.
These have different names which usually refer to various
“Armenian Themes” The most important ones are: the Federation
of Armenian Youth, the Youth Organization, the Armenian Boy
and Girl Scouts Club, organizations for sport and cultural
activities.
c. There are also various
offices operating under the central committees, such as those
in charge of propagandist activities and publicity, as well
as legal, financial, military and educational matters. These
offices offer purely technical service or advice. As an example
of an office rendering a specific service, we can mention
the Committee for Supervising Armenian Immigration.
Aims
The Tashnak terrorist organization
defines the meaning of the Armenian cause or “the Hay Taht”
as the establishment of an independent and non-communist Armenia
within the boundaries designated by the abrogated Sévres Treaty
and the enforcement of payment of compensation by Turkey in
return for the crimes said to have been committed against
the Armenians. Tashnak publications express to this objective
in the following words, "We will continue to insist
on the implementation of the Sévres Treaty, as being one of
the milestones in the pursuit of our cause."
In another publication, the
aims of the Tashnaks are summarised as the recognition of
the right of the Armenians to live in their own lands and
to govern themselves. More commonly, the final aims of the
Tashnaks can be summarised as “Four T Plan”: a) propaganda
b) the recognition of the Armenian claim that genocide was
committed, c) the payment of a compensation by Turkey, d)
resettlement in the Armenian homelands.
Strategies
and Policies
Although the Tashnakshave publicly
declared that their strategies are directed towards the realization
of their aims through “peaceful means”, neither the events
of the past nor their activities in the new era of Armenian
terrorism have proved this to be true. This ‘party’ which
has all the characteristics of a terrorist organization, can
assume, when needed, a peaceful guise and mislead the public
by using propagandist tactics perfected through long years
of experience. In fact, as has been said above, it was the
Tashnaks who were responsible for the establishment of the
“Justice Commandos for Armenian Genocide”, whose name was
later changed to “the Armenian Revolutionary Army”. It is,
indeed, the Tashnaks who decided upon and planned the assassinations
and bomb assaults carried out by this group. These activities
suffice to show that the Tashnak organization never abandoned
the terrorist tendencies it possessed at its inception. Nonetheless,
there is a significant difference between the strategies employed
by the Tashnaksand those by ASALA. ASALA makes no distinction
between the Turks and other nationalities, all of whom can
figure indiscriminately as their targets, whereas the Tashnak
organization and its affiliates take Turkish citizens or official
representatives of Turkey as the sole targets of their deadly
operations.
After the killing of the Turkish
Consul General in Los Angeles in 1972, the Justice Commandos
announced that their targets were “only Turkish diplomats
and Turkish institutions.” The same declaration of intention
was made in connection with the assault carried out by the
Armenian Revolutionary Army against the Turkish Embassy in
Lisbon in 1983.
The difference that exists
between the strategies of the Tashnaksand ASALA may be explained
by observing the historical development of the two organizations.
As we have seen, the Tashnakstook a pro-Western stance in
the 19th Century and the first two decades of the
20th Century and aimed at influencing public opinion
in the West, whereas the Hinchaks turned towards Russia for
protection and support. It is significant that, during the
years 1973-1985, terrorism made use of both camps.
The strategy adopted by the
Tashnaksfinds its clearest expression in the announcement
made in the wake of the Lisbon attack. According to this,
“a national liberation movement has to go through two phases
in order to attain its end: firstly, the phase of internal
propaganda, when bases of support are secured; secondly, the
phase of external publicity directed towards gaining the sympathy
of the world and attracting attention for the cause: hence
the necessity for organizing activities that serve as demonstrations...”
For the Dashnaks, Armenian
terrorism was but a form of demonstration conducted as part
of their strategy. In other words, the assaults, bombings
and raids that were carried out and the people who were injured,
killed or trampled to death in the course of these incidents,
were all considered to be the necessary elements of a scenario
that made up the 'demonstration'.
The Tashnakhistorian Varandjian
described the characteristics of the Tashnakterrorist organization
in the words: “Perhaps no other revolutionary party, not
even the Russian Narodovoletz (Narodnaya Volya) or the Charbonari
of the Italians, adepts though they were at terrorism and
undaunted by anything that came in their way, could breed
terrorists as reckless and impassioned as the Dashnaks. Hundreds
of men carrying guns, daggers and bombs are up in arms.”
It is sobering to reflect that during the period we have studied
the mission of these "reckless and impassioned"
terrorists was to attack Turkish institutions and the Turks.
The Congresses
of Vienna and Munich
On December 27, 1981 the following
resolutions were taken in the twenty-second TashnakCongress
held in Vienna:
a) The Party's goal is
to secure the establishment of a united and independent
Armenia.
b) Pressure should be
exerted on other Armenian organizations by the political
committees to induce them to join the ranks of the Dashnaks.
c) Complete agreement
with the West must be secured.
d) Close relations have
to be established with the Soviet Union, and Armenian immigration
must be stopped.
In the Munich Congress held
at the end of 1984 with the participation of representatives
for fifteen countries, the following resolutions were passed:
a) New campaigns must
be launched to publicise the Armenian cause.
b) An attempt must be
made to resolve the 'Armenian question' through legal and
other peaceful measures, for example, a campaign must be
conducted to bring the issue of genocide before the United
States Congress and the United Nations Committee for Human
Rights so as to secure its recognition.
In the declaration made at
the end of the Congress, the delegates made the following
announcement: “We are to continue our struggle for the
recognition of the legal rights of the Armenian people and
of the genocide committed by the Turks; as well as the payment
of a compensation for the human, cultural and economic losses
endured by our nation and the restitution of the Armenian
national home which has belonged to us for thousands of years.”
The resolutions taken at both
Congresses are of interest in facilitating the identification
of the themes that were to be used as means of propaganda
by the Tashnak terrorist organization.
Support
and Connections
The Tashnakterrorist organization
derived its support largely from the United States and Europe.
It operated on the basic principle of avoiding, as far as
possible, contact with the other terrorist organizations.
Instead, it had links with various organizations in the states
mentioned, its primary source of support being the Church
and the Union of Churches, as well as the Armenian lobbies
and research centres.
Political
Developments
Up to the 1970's the "liberation
and independence of Soviet Armenia" formed the basis
of the policies determined and implemented by the Tashnakterrorist
organization. For this reason, the Tashnaksgave priority to
hostilities against the U.S.S.R. and engaged in a merciless
struggle against those who supported and controlled Soviet
Armenia. During Christmas worship, the Archbishop of the Holy
Cross Armenian Church in New York was assassinated by a Tashnaksuicide-killer.
The reason given was the Archbishop's approval of the situation
in Soviet Armenia.
After the 1970's, the break-up,
due to death and other factors, of the ruling party in the
Armenian Republic and the comparisons being drawn between
the Third World liberation movements and the Tashnak terrorist
movements led to significant changes in the Tashnak policies.
Their hostility was now directed against Turkey and the Turks.
"Fascist Turkey" had become the real enemy; Turkey's
ally, the United States, was also counted among their enemies.
The "Justice Commandos for Armenian Genocide" (JCAG),
a terrorist group established in 1972 and organized by the
Tashnaks, were put into action as a result of the policy changes
mentioned above. The Aztag Shapatoriag, the propaganda organ
of the Tashnak sand especially of the JCAG, issued a warning
of 'terror' when they announced that "terrorism is
the last hope and the only path to follow in the liberation
struggles of today."
Despite all the propaganda
efforts by the Tashnak terrorist organization, the Lisbon
operation was seen as a complete failure. The attempts to
present the attack on the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon, as a
turning point in terror did not win general acceptance. Following
this, they were obliged to change the name of the JCAG to
"Armenian Revolutionary Army"; even so, this did
not produce the desired results. In particular, the arrest
and conviction in 1984 of Sasunian, one of the Tashnak murderers,
proved a great setback to Tashnak policies. The Tashnaks lost
the support of American-born Armenians. According to the Armenian
Reporter, the Tashnak Party had been taken over by Lebanese
Armenians from abroad, and was powerless in the face of a
large majority who did not support terrorism. The weakening
of the- terrorist wing of the party led to increasing clashes
of opinion at the highest level of the Executive Council and
Central Committees. The highest officials in the party were
split into two groups. Powerful members of the Executive Council,
representatives of the Lebanese Central Committee and leading
members of the party administration, were murdered in Beirut
or disappeared without trace. By the end of 1985, it was impossible
to speak of a united Tashnak Party. Two important external
factors helped to create this situation within the Tashnakterrorist
organization. The first was the revelation that the Tashnak
leaders had had connections with secret service organizations
in certain countries and that these were trying to establish
control over the Armenian churches. The second was the struggle
between ASALA and the Dashnaks. ASALA described the Tashnak
leaders as "parasites who were sucking the blood of Armenians
dry." As a matter of fact, these developments within
the Tashnak terrorist organization were not new. Whenever
such conflicts and divisions arose in the past, the Tashnaks
always re-emerged sometime later. In the World Armenian Congresses,
the Tashnaks have always been, and will continue to be, a
force to reckon with. As for the policy changes, they may
be construed as being to temporary conflicts in leaderships.
The Media
Within the Armenian terrorist
organizations, the Tashnak terrorist organization was experimenting
in the field of propaganda and was giving support to that
extent. They had acquired the means of constantly informing
world opinion of their goals, their activities and their policy
through the press and broadcasting media; for example, through
various serials and feature films, through radio programmes,
which they had purchased, thorough private radios, television
and video films. Quite a few countries showed interest and
provided the Tashnaks with special support in this area. Among
the most important Tashnak publications were Hairenik and
Asbarez, both published in Armenian in the United States,
together with the Armenian Weekly, which was published in
English.
The Tashnaks also organized
twenty-two world conferences in places such as Paris, Bucharest,
Erevan and Munich, although the number of participants was
limited. This was a tremendous propaganda and publicity effort
on their part.
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